


The Story About Kuroko Turning Into a Dog

by Araibito



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 08:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araibito/pseuds/Araibito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because apparently no one else had written one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. But then Kagami came flying

**Author's Note:**

> Originally on FF.net. After half a year, I made the minor edit that'd kept me from posting this here. (Not listening to the native speakers' helpful advice, I edited the fic to consistently call dogs "it" because it helps cover up my sentence structure incompetence.)
> 
> I didn't take this fic seriously. I really didn't. Shh, I'm trying to keep face here.

Kuroko was troubled.  
    He'd had an almost unusually normal Sunday, with a short trip to a cafe with Kise who'd said he wanted advice on something important (that'd turned out to be whether he should agree to do a shirtless photo shoot or not) and a dvd movie in the evening.  
So he really didn't see a reason for him having turned into a dog, come monday.

That was what'd happened though. He quite thought this was more unlikely than a meteor falling on the opposing team's bench during the last quarter. It was an absurd situation. He'd woken up to his alarm, reached for his mobile phone to turn it off, and noticed his arm was an odd shape and size. He couldn't turn the alarm off with the paws he now had, and it kept going off every five minutes. He couldn't open the doors of his small apartment, he couldn't get food from the cupboards. He'd been walking a frantic circle around the kitchen for ten minutes now, he realized; the alarm had went off twice. It must've been quite a sight, a dog that looked completely devoid of emotions, repeating the same small circle over and over again; what a shame that no one had been there to see.  
  
    He really needed to calm down.  
If Kuroko remembered right, methods to turn humans into animals had actually been developed in recent years. Supposedly they were medical, though he wasn't quite sure. So this wasn't anything supernatural, it was scientifically possible. He flopped down on his dog butt. The question was, though, how would an under-development, obscure drug have gotten into his digestive system?  
    Tetsuya #2 padded out of the bedroom and came to sit next to him. Apparently the dog still recognized his scent, since it didn't react like to a stranger, only tilted its head in confusion at its owner's change of shape.

    It would probably be best to do something. Get out of the apartment, for example. If Kuroko didn't, he would eventually starve, and "eventually" wouldn't be far away, since there was no way he could open the stubbornly rigid door of his fridge in this shape.  
    Whether he could open his apartment's door was another problem. Never before had it looked so difficult to approach; the handle was so high above he'd have to jump to get to it, and simultaneously he'd have to turn the turning knob. Honestly, it looked like an impossible task. Kuroko sighed a dog-sigh, letting out an unexpected whining sound. (He made a mental note about being careful in order not to embarrass himself while in this state.)  
    He tried it, and failed miserably. He'd never supposed it would actually hurt this much to hang from a door handle, looking at how good #2 was at it. The handle did turn a bit, but he slid off it before even pulling it enough that a normal door would've opened, not to mention a locked one.  
It would be an unpleasant morning.  
  
    In fact, it turned out to be a lot less unpleasant than he expected. After watching his efforts for a while, #2 pushed him aside and managed to open the door in one leap. Kuroko stared. #2 stared back, proud of itself, and he kind of wondered if that proudness had a shade of superiority in it.  
If #2 was a human, Kuroko thought, it'd probably steal his place as a regular in the team. The dog had some crazy skills.  
Once finally out in the staircase, Kuroko pushed the door shut, trying to tell #2 with his stare that it shouldn't leave home. He could only hope. His pet only ever seemed to do what it itself wanted. Turning to face the next obstacle on his way, he couldn't help letting out another whiny sigh. It was time to try and learn a whole new way of going down the stairs.

 

* * *

  
    Kagami was eating his breakfast when the doorbell rang. Wondering who the heck would come to his apartment just before school, he pressed the button and listened to the bottom floor door opening and closing on the intercom. Opening his own door, he expected the elevator's button to light up in indication of someone using it, but nothing seemed to happen. Had his visitor decided to uphold their health by taking the stairs? Kagami waited, and was starting to get annoyed at whoever was prioritizing their fitness over simple politeness, when he heard quiet patter from the floor below. It wasn't the sound that shoes made on tile flooring, it sounded more like an animal…

A dog. It'd finally reached the last flight of stairs and was getting closer every second, like in some horror movie made especially with Kagami in mind. He was about to slam the door shut when the dog turned to face him.  
"#2?"  
The animal jumped weirdly at the name, causing an involuntary twitch in Kagami's muscles. He looked at it judgingly, and then pushed the door properly open again. The pup got in, looking up straight at his eyes as it passed by. Wasn't that aggressive behavior when it came to dogs? You weren't supposed to stare a dog in the eyes, right? Was #2 trying to rise above him in its own bizarre ranking system? There was nothing he could do anymore, with the creature already invading his home. #2 was okay for a dog, but Kagami definitely still wasn't comfortable with being alone with it. Had Kuroko let it escape? Or in fact, had Kuroko let it into the building in order to torment Kagami? It couldn't have pressed the right number on its own.

He decided to close the door, since there was no helping the fact that the dog was here now. Returning to his breakfast, he saw it staring at its reflection in the hall mirror. This was exactly why he didn't like dogs. What the hell went on inside their heads? Their expressions were so blank and they would get aggressive for no apparent reason.  
After gobbling up his breakfast, he noticed the clock's arms were at an alarming angle already. Rushing to throw the necessary stuff into his bag, he wondered just what could be done with #2. He didn't want to leave it in his home, since the faster he got rid of it, the better, but he didn't have a leash, or any dog supplies for that matter.  
He was going to be late for morning activities if he spent another minute thinking, and the coach would no doubt raise his workload if that happened. Oh god, he didn't know how he was going to deal with this.  
He grabbed the dog and sprinted.

    The puppy let out a startled yelp that caused Kagami to leap over five stairs on the way down. Luckily it didn't seem to be getting distressed in a way that would cause it to bite people, quite on the contrary, its face was like a stone mask beside its apparent discomfort, but carrying the thing was horribly stressful nevertheless. He sweated for reasons entirely other than the speed at which he was running. Quite a few of the people he passed on his way were probably even more afraid of the expression on his face than he was of the dog.

    In the end, he reached the Seirin gym several minutes earlier than he'd thought he would, and after crashing through the doors back first, could finally put the dog back down. The other members, most of whom were already there, stared at him and the dog at a loss of words.  
"Whoever gave _you_ of all people #2 to look after?" Hyuga asked in an unbelieving tone. The dog shook itself, still wearing a distressingly neutral expression on its face all the while totally radiating displeasure.  
"Don't look at _me_! Hasn't Kuroko come yet? He's here somewhere, isn't he?"  
Questioning glances were exchanged and heads were shaken. "I don't think he's here. I came in alone and I'm the one who unlocked the door", the coach said.  
Kagami felt a pat on his knee and looked down to see #2 leaning against his leg and hitting him with its other front paw, radiating killing intent.

    He couldn't help himself, and no one could really blame him. Kagami jumped two meters back and several up, leaving the pup to tumble down on its snout. And as the unfortunate Furihata and Koganei had chosen just that moment to enter the gym, they were hit with 190 centimeters and 82 kilograms of raw teenager muscle and tendon as a welcome gift.  
"AH!" a cry echoed in the gym. The senpais were there at the speed of light, pushing Kagami off the two latecomers. He was coldly tossed aside as Teppei and Mitobe rushed to help the victims back up.  
"Are you two alright?" the coach asked. "Furihata-kun?" the 1st-year was rubbing the back of his head.  
"I'm alright, I just hit my head and it hurts a bit." It looked like the coach was going to continue questioning him, but she was stopped by Koganei's sudden cry of "AH!"  
"What is it?" she turned to look at him.  
"Where did #2 go?" the hyperactive boy yelped, looking frantically around him. "We found it wandering in the streets and took it here with us, but then Kagami came flying, and…!"  
"EH?" Koganei looked up to see everyone around him looking weirded out.  
"But #2 was just brought here by Kagami! It was what startled him to jump like that, too!" the coach explained. "Whose dog have you kidnapped, Koganei-kun?"  
"No, I'm sure it's #2! You can't mistake it for anything else, it looks just like Kuroko!"

"Speaking of things that'll disappear without warning, I don't see even one dog here at the moment", Izuki said. He was left to smirk at his own joke alone as his teammates rushed back out of the gym.  
    "#2! Come here, good boy!" Koganei yelled and sprinted to the right. Teppei and Mitobe ran after him, with Kagami, Hyuga and Furihata turning to the left instead. The rest were left behind, a bit too late in deciding what direction to take.  
  
    Kagami didn't have to run long before he found the dogs. There really were two of them. One was determinedly walking toward the hallway that connected the gym building to the school, while the other one was trying to stop it by blocking its way. The one playing defense looked up at Kagami and the others like they were rescuing angels as Hyuga rushed to pick up the other one.  
"Geh!" he exclaimed, looking at the dogs' faces with an expression that said _'I haven't slept enough to put up with this'_. "They both really look like #2."  
Furihata picked up the defense dog, which didn't seem to exactly appreciate the gesture.  
"Kagami, can you tell them apart?" he asked, standing next to Hyuga with the puppy in his hands. The redhead stared at the two dogs, searching for differences, and looked more baffled with every glance.  
"No way in hell! They're identical!"  
"Let me look!" Furihata said, and dumped his dog onto Kagami, who could only take it or drop it, and he had the distinct feeling that he'd be hated for his whole life if he did the latter. Instead, he held the creature as far from his body as he could without looking like a frightened nine-year-old. It wriggled uncomfortably and he was too scared of its possible revenge to bring it closer.  
"It looks like we've found #2's long-lost identical twin or something", Furihata observed, leaning closer to the dogs. "What will we do? There's no way to tell them apart." And after a little pause, "Kagami, yours smells like vanilla."  
"Huh?"  
  
    The coach came and dragged them to practice after that, so they didn't have time to make any more observations, and then it was time to go to class. Though no one wanted to do it, the dogs were locked into the storage room for the duration of the school day, since they couldn't be taken to class and no one had the guts to skip school just like that.  
Kagami went to class just to find that Kuroko wasn't at school at all. What was wrong with that guy? He had definitely left home that day, since there was no way that dog had just invaded Kagami's home on its own. He was pretty sure that the one that'd come to him was the real #2, but now there was no way to tell the two of them apart.

Ahhh, he really didn't want to have even _more_ dogs in his life. Rather, he'd've been relieved if #2 had been given to a good home somewhere far away instead of being taken as the team's mascot, but it couldn't be helped. #2 was an OK dog, one Kagami was ready to tolerate, but now he couldn't even tell which one it was, so there was no way he was going to trust either of them.  
He just wanted to go home.


	2. Though he doesn't dig dogs

    Kuroko was at a loss. He couldn't come up with a way to communicate his identity to his teammates, and even if he could, they probably wouldn't pay attention to what he was doing long enough to understand. What would the team do with the extra dog incident? No one would have the resources to take care of two of them. Even #2 had been a struggle, everybody taking turns to help with its food when they happened to have enough money.  
    He was lucky sneaking out of situations was his specialty. The others would definitely look after #2, even if two of them would be too much, so he'd just have to manage on his own for a while. It was probable that the drug's effect wouldn't last forever, so he'd just have to think of some good excuses for his absence. Maybe he could say his parents' pet parrot had died. That would shut them up.

    Really, the Seirin basketball club was full of idiots. You shouldn't leave your pets in the storage room for a whole day without giving them any food or water. Not to mention your friends (though that obviously couldn't be helped); Kuroko was getting bored.  
    There wasn't much to do in the room. He did a round, and the only interesting thing were the basketballs, which he couldn't, of course, play with in the way that he would've liked to. He pushed one around and #2 got interested in the rolling game for a while, but it didn't provide much amusement for the dog either; it was used to catching objects thrown into the air, so a rolling basketball wasn't much fun.  
  
    They did, in fact, bring them some food on the lunch break. Some dog food. That was another problem Kuroko hadn't come to think of. He suspiciously stared at the brown goo while #2 was wolfing the stuff down at a speed that suggested if Kuroko didn't make his mind up soon, his pet would make the decision for him by devouring his share too.  
    He took a step toward the can and sniffed the food. It smelled completely different to a dog's nose. He was really hungry and Koganei was looking at him expectantly.  
Well, he supposed that it was the best option anyway, him being a dog now. Kuroko didn't want to hurt his stomach with something meant for humans in case he'd have to manage on his own for a while; that would be a disadvantage. The stuff tasted weird, but it was edible, and provided nourishment that he'd need in case his transformation would last.

* * *

  
    The storage room's door was opened at the beginning of the basketball club's practice, and Kagami jumped back as the two beasts rushed out. For a moment, he felt like a gladiator forced into a battle till death on a closed arena. One of the dogs pattered around enthusiastically, looking like it might playfully jump onto him any moment, and the other one was just calmly menacing.  
"Where the hell has Kuroko run off to, seriously?" he whined. "The dog's his responsibility, and just today, he has to decide to skip school."  
"Has anyone even tried calling him, though?" Izuki asked. "Maybe he's sick, and that's also the reason he brought #2 to Kagami, though he doesn't dig dogs." His joke was coldly ignored once again.  
"You're right. I'll try calling him", Hyuga said, a glazed smile on his face. "I'll tell him what I'd like to do to people who skip school and disturb practice without even informing anyone." He raised the phone to his ear, listened to the beeps on the other end of the line, and looked tiredly at one of the dogs, sitting quietly next to Koganei.

The dog shook its head at him. Huyga blinked. It was strange behavior for an animal all over; staring someone in the eyes, sitting still among a ring of humans without being told to, and shaking its head like that. Not that you could ever tell what was normal for #2, though.  
No one answered the phone. Hyuga listened to the dull female voice of the answering machine, just a bit annoyed. Just a bit.  
"Kuroko, it's common courtesy to explain what's going on when you dump dogs on people and skip school. You'd better call back and explain", he said onto the record, and pressed the red button. The dog shook its head again.  
"Well, that was that. We can discuss the matter of the extra dog later. Let's start practice now, the dance club has reserved the gym after us", the coach shouted, clapping her hands together to get the others to shut up. While she gave the orders, the dog that'd been sitting still among them moved to the side of the hall, as if understanding what was going on, and the other dog joined it. They were both so unreadable, it felt like Seirin's #2 had really just cloned itself.

* * *

  
    In the middle of a practice match between the age groups, the gym door flew open once again, and Kaijou's Kise Ryouta stormed in like an overly excited golden retriever, demanding everyone's attention. "Hey, guys!" he shouted, as if he was best buddies with all of them.  
The effect he had wasn't exactly what he'd hoped for. Most of the team just stared, and the coach pushed him back.  
"Take your shoes off before entering, thank you", she said and let him stop at the doorstep.  
"Sorry", Kise muttered, putting aside his professional charm, and came back in after leaving his shoes by the door outside. It was raining, so he had made small puddles on every step he took with them on. "I came to ask if you've seen Kurokocchi today. He wouldn't answer his phone and I got worried."  
"No, Kuroko-kun hasn't been at school at all", the coach replied. "He didn't answer our call, either."

Kise looked concerned. "Well, alternatively, have you encountered any weird animals or something like that?"  
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kagami asked, doing his best to appear menacing for the sake of competition. "Why are you suddenly so worried about him? Is this some weird Generation of Miracles crap again?"  
"No", Kise said, taking up the challenge. "Look, I didn't come here to waste your time, I'm just trying to make sure of something. I'll be off your backs as soon as you answer my question."  
"We did find another weird dog in addition to our own", Teppei told him, smiling. "They look identical. It's a mystery."  
"THAT'S IT", Kise declared enthusiastically, turning to look. "WHOAH!"  
"What's it? You haven't exactly made it clear what the connection between this and Kuroko's absence is", Hyuga asked, totally done with the day already.  
"Well, you see…" the color yellow said, cheerfully, "I played a friendly prank on Kurokocchi, and it seems like it worked, after all!" He crouched down in front of the two dogs, ready to pet one, when he was hit on the cheek with a surprisingly powerful puppy paw. Kagami quickly and silently retreated to the opposite end of the hall.  
"Ow! I'm sorry! You've heard about the new techniques to turn people into animals, right?" he asked, earning a few nods and a lot more confused stares.  
"It's legit", the coach said. "Follow the news, basketballheads. Is this going where I think it is?"

"Well", Kise said, averting his eyes in theatrical quilt, "I think so. I got some samples of the drug so I could play a prank on Kurokocchi. Though at first, I didn't think it had worked, since nothing at all happened while we were chatting at the cafe, and I didn't hear from him all evening."  
He turned to look at the dog that had slapped him. "So, in other words, this is probably Kurokocchi!"  
    He got slapped again.

* * *

  
    "Sorry, Kuroko!" the Seirin basketball team and Kise said in unison. "For locking you in the storage room and for giving you d-dog food…" the end of the Koganei's sentence was muffled by chortling. They earned a blank stare that was extremely discomforting when its owner couldn't say anything, for good or bad.

    "Hey, Kise! What are we supposed to do now? You have some antidote for that drug or something, right?" Kagami, unsure of what to do, went back to his glaring. It was bound to work someday.  
"In fact, no", Kise answered with an uncomfortable look on his face. "I kinda lost it. We'll have to wait for the effect to wear off."  
Kuroko let out a third whiny sigh, and that, he thought, was a quite reasonable amount for all today's frustration. He was equally fed up with everyone in the room. This was the sort of a day on which it would've been completely reasonable to skip school.

"How long will it take, then?" Furihata asked, taking a glance at Kuroko. Maybe he wasn't quite that fed up with Furihata, Kuroko decided.  
"It shouldn't be longer than a day or two, anymore", Kise said, the sides of his mouth twitching suspiciously. He wasn't sorry at all, just excited. It was a trait that Kuroko disliked about him.  
"Maybe I can take care of him for that time", the airhead went on to suggest.  
Kuroko got up, effectively making everyone stop talking, walked to Kise, and as his target unsuspectingly crouched, hit his cheek again.  
"So that's that", the coach said, ignoring Kise's complaints about hitting a model's face. "Who's going to take care of Kuroko-kun? And someone has to look after #2, too."  
"I don't think any of us has the resources to take care of a dog, except for Kagami", Teppei said with his angelic smile.  
"No way! Do you think I could sleep in the same house as one of those creatures?" Kagami blurted.  
"Yeah, yeah, we understand you're scared of dogs, but it's not like you're scared of _Kuroko_ , right?" Hyuga bargained irritably.  
"Yeah, normally, but I thought even before that he's a bit like a dog! _Look_ at him! It was okay when he was a human, because I could at least ask him what he was thinking, but now, no way. I don't want him in my house, scaring the crap out of me and _hitting_ me when I don't understand what he wants!"  
Teppei took on a displeased tone. "No, _you_ look at him! You can't just let your friend down like that. It's still Kuroko and he's been turned like that _against his own will_."

Kagami did as he was told, and found that Kuroko had at some point sat down right in front of him and was staring at him quite as accusingly as his senpais. He took a huge step backwards, and earned another dog-sigh.  
"Then why don't _you_ take care of him?" the redhead barked. "…Senpai."  
"Oh, me? I'm considering bankruptcy", Teppei declared with a proud smile. "No, seriously, the month's nearing its end and I'm living on the rice that's left in my closet, you know. Haha!"  
That shut Kagami up, and made him consider treating his senpai to a few hamburgers, at that. Lack of food was an argument that worked wonderfully against him.  
"That's how it is, so Kagami-kun'll take care of Kuroko-kun, right? OK!" the coach announced without leaving any room for complaints. "Now we only need someone to look after #2, and just so you know, tomorrow's practice will be _tough_ since we've wasted so much time on this today."  
"Well, Kise has offered his help, right?" Teppei pointed out. "He's the one who's responsible for this whole deal, after all."  
"Eh? Well…"  
"It's almost like having Kuroko, right? #2 looks just like him."  
Kise couldn't come up with any objections that wouldn't be met with angry glares. Kuroko patted his knee in a way that made him quite unable to refuse, and so he took off, defeated, with #2 in his arms.

* * *

  
    Kuroko lay down by the wall of the gym, relieved at the turn of events. He'd already gotten a small revenge on Kise and gotten him out of his hair by dumping #2 on him, and an evening with Kagami was bound to be interesting. The redhead was having a good fight with the senpais on the court, and his other classmates were almost holding their ground with his help. They were losing, but they were losing honorably, and if Kuroko was there, they would probably have won. The addition of Teppei had made Team Senpai stronger, but not crushingly so.

    Kagami really was the best option to ask for help. His apartment was huge, he wouldn't bug Kuroko about being cute, and there was nothing to feel guilty about even when making him use money for food, because the guy practically swam in it. It was too bad for Kagami that what he had turned into was a dog, but he felt he was entitled to a bit of fun after what he'd gone through today.  
    Furihata made a basket, and he cheered, letting out an unintentional bark.


	3. The healthy distance of two meters

Kuroko only got to leave school after being the victim of some vicious petting. Every single non-phobic team member came up with some discreet excuse for scratching him behind the ears or squeezing his paws, and he even had a sock ball thrown at him, immediately followed by Hyuga slapping Kawahara, the culprit, on the back of the head.  
"He's still a human, you know!"  
He was starting to feel sorry for all the fluffy animals of the world who had to put up with something like this everyday. It was almost worse than being called a kid and having his hair ruffled. After finally being set free into the rain outdoors, Kuroko was intensely thankful for the fact that Kagami was cynophobic and kept the healthy distance of two meters between the two of them.

"Why don't you just learn about the behavior of dogs, though, Kagami?"  
Koganei and Furihata lived in the same direction as Kuroko and Kagami, that was why they'd ran into #2 that morning, too. The 2nd-year looked at Kagami questioningly. "If you knew what action meant what, you _could_ know what they're thinking, or at least what mood they're in, you know."  
"No, seriously! I don't want to think about them more than absolutely necessary!"  
"Well, okay, but for example, you shouldn't touch a dog's head too suddenly, because they find that threatening", the senpai continued, trying to be helpful.  
"I won't touch a dog _anywhere_ , thank you very much!"  
Kuroko really was like a dog, huh.

"Hey."  
"What is it, Furi?"  
"I don't see Kuroko anywhere."  
Kagami scanned his surroundings to see that it was true. There was no dog to be seen.  
"Don't tell me we have to go _looking for him_ now, after all the trouble he's caused today", he snarled, but just at that moment, like saying "there's no need for that" with his actions, the shadow emerged from a bush by the road a little back.  
"What were you-" Koganei started. "Ah."  
And as it seemed like a silence was going to form, Furihata bravely did his best to change the subject. "Ah-Anyway, you--- have to buy some food, right, Kagami?"  
"I suppose so. I don't know what a dog's stomach can handle, so it's probably best to just buy some dog food for Kuroko."

"If that's OK with you", he added, looking at Kuroko for confirmation. The eternal pokerface nodded awkwardly in lack of any better means of communication. It felt unpleasant in this shape, since the muscles of a dog's neck were very different from a human's. He'd kind of lost his usual smoothness in this form and it wasn't nice to be unable to explain anything. Still, it felt good to be addressed directly. This was the first time Kagami had done that to him today. Kuroko was a bit relieved; it didn't seem like the redhead wanted to completely ignore him for the whole evening like he'd feared.

* * *

  
Koganei and Furihata went their own ways, and Kuroko was left waiting outside a convenience store for Kagami to buy the necessary supplies. He expected the idiot would come out with a lot more than just dog food; he was always hungry after basketball practice, and a pissed off Kagami ate even more than usual.  
A good thing about being a dog was that the cold weather didn't bother him now. Though if he was in his usual shape, he could've just gone into the shop instead of sitting in front of it like one of the unattended dogs that Kagami always dreaded. In fact, Kuroko was getting a few concerned looks from passerbys due to his lack of collar and leash. He decided to retreat behind a trash can.

    The rain drummed a light, irregular rhythm on the see-through plastic roof over the entrance of the store, littered with leafs and a few stranded soda cans. Waves of warm air came from the automatic doors as they opened and closed for the people shopping for dinner on their way home, or grabbing a snack before rushing to an evening hobby or a night of work. Kuroko felt a bit stranded, too; he couldn't have done any of those normal things at the moment, even if he had wanted to.

    To be quite honest, he was afraid of being stuck as a dog. One couldn't help it, in a situation like this. It wouldn't make any less sense for the drug to have a permanent effect than a temporary one. Kise could probably get his hands on an antidote if it seemed he wasn't going to turn back on his own, but he felt uncomfortably defenseless like this. He'd always preferred to take care of his own business, and now he couldn't. It wasn't very nice at all of Kise, slipping suspicious substances into people's vanilla shakes.  
    Kuroko really wished it wouldn't come to that. He didn't want to seriously scare Kagami, but when forced to spend a too long time with anyone, not to mention having to rely on them, he could easily become irritable, and his friend, however strong and stubborn he was, wouldn't be able to handle the company of an annoyed dog very well.

* * *

  
Kagami had ended up buying a lot more than he'd intended to, and the plastic bag he was carrying was heavy. He dragged his feet out, doing his best to not show the bag was heavy, and noticed Kuroko had disappeared. Not this again… He tried to find the small shadow somewhere, but the scene was too colorful and crowded. It was his loss.  
"Kuroko?"  
His brother-in-sports deigned to show his face at the call, emerging from behind a trash can by the door, looking sort of tired, if Kagami was reading his posture correctly. Well. He would've, too, if he'd been put in the same situation, or in fact, he probably couldn't have handled it anywhere near as calmly.  
"Let's go", he said with an exasperated sigh, and forced himself to not flinch away when Kuroko walked a bit closer to him than before.

* * *

  
    Kagami had bought some instant hamburgers and coke, and after setting some food and water on soup plates down on the floor for Kuroko, he heated up ten of them. It had been a stressful day, so he needed consolation. Munching the fourth one, he glanced at his teammate only to see he hadn't even started eating, but was glaring at Kagami in a way that said "bug off".  
"What's your problem?" Shivers ran down his spine. Angry dogs were still a bit… "Does it taste bad or something?"  
The fluffball shook his head, but the annoyance in his stance didn't change. Stopping to think for a moment, he pointed with his front paw at Kagami and then at the living room behind the corner.  
"What, why?" The idiot noticed the uselessness of his question just after saying it, earning another shake of the head. Lacking the strength to try to understand, he took his burgers and went. Kuroko waited for him to disappear behind the corner, and then, unwillingly, started his meal. Eating dog food was embarrassing, and he wasn't going to add to the discomfort by having Kagami leering at him, even if it meant scaring him away. He was going to protect his dignity till the bitter end.

    Kagami turned the TV on, and the air was filled with dramatic English. Kuroko finished his meal, leaving a bit of leftovers, and went to look.  
The channel was a foreign one; the detective show that was on didn't have subtitles. Kuroko hopped onto the sofa and tried to change the channel to the one he usually watched the evening news on with the remote control that Kagami had put down by his side. He missed the button and made the TV change to channel 356 instead. They were showing cartoons. Kagami turned to take the remote, startled by the sudden switch, and jumped over the armrest off the couch at the sight of the dog right next to him. Kuroko got helpfully ridden of the embarrassing content by changing to channel 144 (static) instead, still in fact aiming for 5. Paws really weren't made for using phones or pushing remote buttons.

    Speaking of phones, his mobile was probably still trying to wake him up every five minutes, in his apartment, _whose door was probably open_ since #2 had broken out. He hopped off the couch, ignoring Kagami's angry grumbling about how he could've shown a bit of courtesy by not sneaking up on people, and walked to the door. In his anger, it took Kagami a while to notice the dog wasn't in the living room anymore. Kuroko hit the door with his paws to get the redhead's attention.  
"What is it?" he turned off the TV and came to look. Kuroko put his paw against the door. "Why do you need to go out at this hour?"  
He only earned an annoyed tap on the wood. "Fine." He took his keys from their nail, pushed the door open and followed his quiet friend into the staircase, taking the elevator down. Kuroko was taking hesitant glances at him, but he couldn't understand what he wanted to say.  
    Outside, Kuroko suddenly sprinted. Kagami didn't have time to consider what to do; he followed.

* * *

  
Kuroko had meant to shake Kagami off in order to not bother him with this; he could've just gone to push the door shut and come back by himself, but his light, of course, couldn't know what he was doing, and was regrettably still a faster runner than the shadow, even though he was better at it than normal as a dog. They reached his apartment, both panting, in a few minutes. The door really was open. Kuroko could only hope no one had paid attention to it.  
"You're seriously too slow for a dog", his pursuer remarked.

They both were startled by a beeping coming from indoors. The mobile phone still had some power in it and hadn't given up.  
    Well, since Kagami was here anyway, he could be of help and stop the beeping. Kuroko pattered inside and showed him to the phone. For once, the idiot understood and turned the alarm off.  
"So, you forgot your door open?"  
Kuroko shook his head, knowing he wouldn't be understood. He'd explain things once back in his own skin, he decided, and looked around him, noticing his keys on the nightstand. He would've missed them when it came to returning, so there was a gold lining to #2 having opened the door; his budget didn't account for door-opening fines. Taking the bunch in his teeth, he handed it to an unwilling Kagami who shuddered at his touch. For him, it must've been a bit like receiving something from a spider.

    They left the house, making sure the door was properly pushed shut this time.  
"Let's run back!" the muscle head suggested, suddenly enthusiastic for no reason, and started without waiting for an answer. Kuroko sprinted after him, but was mercilessly left behind. He'd run out of power. After a while, the ball of energy ahead of him turned to look back and, sighing, slowed down to his friend's speed.  
"In this sense, you're not like a dog at all", he pointed out. "Those things never seem to stop moving."  
 _In that sense, you are just like a dog, Kagami-kun_ , Kuroko thought. He would have to say it aloud once he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU where Kagami has a TV. I realized my mistake too late.


	4. Oh well

Kuroko woke up on Kagami's couch, feeling like dough that'd been kneaded too much. The bright morning light reflected from something shiny by the balcony door and formed a small blotch on the ceiling, and the aforementioned teammate was eating breakfast in the kitchen. He rolled over to find he was still a dog, and drowsily kept rolling to fall off the bed. The landing wasn't very graceful; his legs gave and he fell to his side. Maybe he could just continue sleeping here.  
"You have amazing bed fur." Kagami, who'd heard the thud and come to look, remarked. Kuroko slowly got up, shook himself and, calm as ever, walked into the kitchen, making his light retreat quickly. More water and food had been added to the soup plates, making Kuroko turn his gaze away, uncomfortable with the way Kagami had to look after him. The transformation had better start wearing off soon.

    "Do you want to come to school? If you come, I'll ask the teacher if I can take you to the classes." Kagami didn't look him in the eye, uncomfortable with being nice. The fur ball nodded. He wouldn't be able to do much here, so he might as well go to school and try to learn something, even if it didn't show in his attendance record. He'd have to think of a good excuse. A pet parrot's death wouldn't really amount to more than one day. ("It doesn't amount to a day!" Kagami would've retorted, if he knew what his friend was thinking.)  
    They finished their breakfast and left. A dog walking loose got some ugly stares from other commuters, so they had to walk close to one another in order to convince people he was in fact under control, which didn't exactly improve Kagami's morning. He was getting tired of being scared of his partner, or in fact, just being scared. He hadn't been able to relax properly since yesterday morning, for hell's sake. The same probably went for the cause of his tenseness, too.

* * *

  
Kagami and the homeroom teacher had an intense argument, during which he had to claim a lot of things he didn't believe himself, before being allowed to take a dog into the classroom with the condition he'd keep him strictly under his desk. He didn't dare take his words back, so he ended up stuck, cold sweat on his back and unable to concentrate, for hours with a source of phobia on top of his feet. Kuroko decided to just sneak out, but when he tried to on the first break, the redhead told him to stop.  
"I asked to keep you there. It'd be too weird if you just left now, idiot."

    By lunch break, Kagami had sort of gotten used to being in constant contact with his nightmares. It was a broken sort of resignation, but he found that concentrating on the lessons made it easier to endure. Later, teachers would be weirded out by how well he knew dominant genes and wood block paintings of the 17th century in spite of often being unable to even read the questions in his tests because he didn't know enough kanji.  
    Kuroko couldn't do anything. He wished he had a way to console Kagami somehow, but patting his knee encouragingly would have the opposite effect, and that was pretty much the only means of communication he had at the moment. When he was back in his own shape, Kise would pay for this. (Actual money would be good compensation. He would seriously consider it.)

    Once the lessons were over, Kagami stuffed his things into his bag and stormed out, leaving a weak "sorry!" behind him. His shadow sighed and quietly walked after him. It was time for basketball, so Kagami was bound to come to the gym, never mind what toilet he was throwing up in at the moment. Or whatever he'd went to do. He really deserved a break.

* * *

  
So did Kuroko, honestly, but it didn't seem like he was about to get one. Everything about him was still very solidly doglike, from ears to the tip of his tail, and his teammates didn't try very hard when it came to hiding their delight. Koganei rushed to greet him the moment he entered the gym and picked him up, despite his slight protests, in a way that _really_ wasn't good when handling dogs, and after rubbing his head for a bit and saying "Hi, Kuroko!" in a tone one really wasn't supposed to use when speaking to people over the age of three, handed him over to Riko.  
    The coach grabbed him in her hands and spun in circles, and Kuroko earnestly considered biting her. He was a _human being_ like all of them, was it that hard to remember? No one would've done something as humiliating as this to him in his usual form. The spinning made him feel sick.

    That was when Teppei came in, with Kagami and Hyuga in his wake, slamming the gym door harder than necessary.  
"Oops, sorry! I misjudged the power needed", he declared cheerfully, and then, looking at the scene, suddenly gave everyone in the room a disapproving look. "You're mistreating Kuroko again."  
"Ah?" was all the coach could say before the dog-human was grabbed away from her. Kuroko momentarily felt even smaller than he really was, with the contrast in size between the two pairs of hands he was moved between.  
"At least I suppose you hadn't invited Riko to shake your insides upside down", the 2nd-year said, back to his pure smile. Kuroko nodded, stunned. This was probably the scene where he, as the protagonist of his series, was to fall in love with his senpai.  
He didn't, quite, but it really made him remember how much he liked Teppei. After being put back down on the floor, he briefly brushed against his leg as a gesture of thanks.  
"I'm sorry, Kuroko-kun", the coach said, back from her dreamworld, and he nodded again.  
Teppei sighed. "Riko, you really should consider other people's feelings more, at least when they're unable to defend themselves."

* * *

  
Practice went smoothly. Today, they did muscle training, which was not much fun to watch, so Kuroko decided to jog around the gym. It was rather nice in the form of a dog, since his body worked differently from usual. It felt like everything about his anatomy was made with running in mind. How would the training he did as a dog affect him as a human? It'd be nice if his running skills actually developed.

    He got tired about as fast as usual, though, and it was nice to collapse behind the benches without the danger of the coach telling him to go on if she noticed. He was forced to pant with his mouth open, so he did his best to not be noticed, and so, no one noticed him until Kise barged in, around the time they would've started finishing. He had #2 with him on a leash he'd apparently bought (it was very stylish) and looked calculatedly laid-back and casual.  
"Hey, people!" he said. "I came to visit."  
"You can go sit on the bench and watch, then", the coach told him coldly. Kuroko was delighted by the way his teammates were learning to deal with the annoyance. His old friend dropped his cheerful attitude and sat down by him, disappointed.  
"Seirin really is one amazing team", he remarked.  
#2 seemed to be doing well, to his relief. Kise wasn't one to neglect his responsibilities, even when unwilling to take care of them, and it seemed he really did like dogs, the way he scratched the pup behind the ears when it sat down next to him after checking Kuroko out and sensing he wasn't exactly willing to touch anyone at the moment.

    The Seirin team finished its training and migrated to the locker room, and the coach came to meet Kise, in lack of anything better to do.  
"So, what are you here for?" she asked. "Kuroko-kun hasn't turned back, nothing's new. I'm sorry, but we still can't take #2. No one can take care of him."  
"Ah, it's nothing like that, really. I just came to check on Kurokocchi. I don't want to completely miss out on this. It's _my_ prank, after all! Ow!" He looked down to see a neat row of scratches on his leg, exposed below his knee-length shorts. Kuroko managed to look extremely pissed off for himself, in spite of being a dog at the moment.  
    Kagami was already back from the changing room and, taking a glance at his pissed-off shadow, settled as far from him as possible while still being inside the zone of the conversation.  
"What're you here for?" he asked.  
"Nothing in particular, like I just said!" Kise replied, frustrated. "I wanted to see Kurokocchi, that's all, but it doesn't seem like we'll be having any friendly conversation, huh?"  
"Not really, not at the moment", said Hyuga, who'd just come in with the rest of the team. "You've sabotaged a friend of ours, you know. It's common sense. You can make up with Kuroko later, if he wants to, but we have no reason to assume he wants to spend time with you at the moment."  
"That's just it!" Kagami said, seeming genuinely thankful for his senpai's way of putting it.  
Kuroko nodded.

"Oh, _fine_! I brought the drug's bottle and instructions with me, so you can just--- take them, I'll go now!" the blonde screeched and withdrew, pushing a pile of stuff into Kagami's hands as he went. "I thought Seirin was a gentle team!" they could hear him mumbling as he stuffed his feet into the shoes he'd left out this time, and then he ran away.  
"Well, that was one intense show he put on", Izuki commented, dumbfounded. "Can you ever tell when he's serious and when he's not?"  
Kuroko shrugged. In a way, his yellow friend was always serious, and on the other hand, he almost never really was. He had a way of taking his real feelings and turning them into comedy with his overly-dramatic acting.

    "Anyway. It's time to disband for the day. Kagami", Hyuga said, glancing at the redhead with a contemplating expression. "It's maybe a bit too unfair, so I'm asking. Is it okay with you to take care of Kuroko for one more evening? I can take him for this one day if you're really too tired."  
Kuroko supposed he'd heard something from Kagami before they'd entered the gym together. When it came to serious matters, the senpais were so reliable it was inspiring. It would be a relief if he could be off Kagami's back.  
"…No", Kagami said, causing an unintentional twitch in Kuroko's ears. "…Thanks. It's OK. The transformation shouldn't last for longer than a day more, right? I can take that much. It'd feel like I was betraying him if I backed out now."  
The following silence was broken by Hyuga's laugh.  
"Seriously, you're so stubborn that we senpais are left with nothing to do", he said with a fond smile. "Please, remember to leave something for us from time to time.  
Kuroko could've sworn he saw his friend's ears turn a shade redder as he turned his head away in embarrassment.

* * *

  
    Outside, as everyone left in their own directions, Kuroko stopped Kagami by blocking his way. (He'd meant to make him stop _before_ he tripped on him, but oh well.) The redhead got up, rubbing his palms and swearing.  
"What the hell'd you do that for?"

He was silenced by an intense stare, and saw it best to consider the circumstances before continuing.  
"Uh… It's okay, really. Here." And he crouched back down and patted his friend on the back. "I _am_ getting used to it. And I don't want to behave like an idiot, as if you're not you at the moment. Even I have some empathy, you know."  
Kuroko snorted. An empathetic Kagami, what a bizarre thought.  
"Shut up!" was the reply he got. But seeing the way his friend's tail was swinging, certainly moving though the motion was minimal, Kagami spared him from further comments.  
And, though it was a bit embarrassing, Kuroko didn't try to conceal his satisfaction too much either.


	5. More like bacon and fried eggs

This morning didn't offer Kuroko a disappointment like previous one. He woke up, feeling cold. Which was natural, since he was sleeping on the sofa without so much as a blanket (or clothes, for that matter) to cover his bare skin.  
    Bare skin. He'd turned back. It was enough to make him get up, and doing that, he discovered to his dismay that the transformation wasn't complete. His hands and feet weren't back yet, and by the feel of it, the tail seemed to be still there, too, if smaller than before.  
    Kuroko didn't get much time to inspect his shape. A wave of pain swept over him as soon as he sat up, especially intense in the parts that were still in the middle of transforming. He felt like throwing up but nothing came; his stomach was completely empty, and trying to get to the toilet, he found his sense of balance didn't work very well together with the paws at the end of his legs. He created a quite loud thud, falling to his knees, and Kagami, who'd apparently been washing his teeth in the bathroom, came to look.

"Oh! You changed back!" he exclaimed happily, and it took a while for his expression to change to concern. "Are you OK?"  
"Sorry, Kagami-kun, I'm afraid I'm not." His voice was hoarse from lack of use and the horrible feeling in his stomach.  
"Agh", the redhead said, striding to look, and, after seeing his friend properly, "Uh."  
"I think the drug has some side effects", the half-dog continued. "The transformation's rather painful and I feel sick."  
"Should you take some painkillers? I have some in the-"  
"No", Kuroko cut him short. To be honest, he was feeling a bit urgent. "Please, check the drug's instructions first. It might have dangerous reactions to some substances."  
"Well, alright", Kagami scowled and stomped off. Kuroko supposed he must look ill, too, for his friend to be that worried.

"AH!" sounded a roar from the bedroom, and the redhead floundered back, appearing angry, this time. "That asshole! He totally didn't understand the instructions, they're in English! You have his number on your phone, right?" They'd brought Kuroko's phone back from his apartment along with the keys, and Kagami was going through the contacts, already.  
"Yes, but-"  
"Ha!" the basketballhead lifted the phone to his ear."Calling him won't do us any good, you know", Kuroko said, getting a bit pissed off. He was in pain, and all Kagami was doing was complaining to someone who would be no help at all.  
"Ah, Kise!" Kagami bellowed into the phone. "You dimwit! The stuff you "lost" isn't antidote, it's stabilizer! It's what makes sure the transformation back isn't totally agonizing and supports the change, so you'd better dig it up from whatever hole you stuffed it into at this very second, shithead!"  
A frantic twaddle started on the other end of the line, but Kagami hung up by slamming the cell shut.

"So, I gather I can't take any painkillers", Kuroko muttered.  
"Yeah", the redhead replied, still fuming. "You bet your ass that idiot hasn't really lost the stabilizer, he just didn't want to end the fun. Anyway, apparently you have to eat, since you're gaining a lot of mass. I'll make you some food, so sit on the couch or something." He went to the kitchen and started to beat the living daylights out of his tableware, by the sound of it.

Kuroko hoped he was right about Kise; agonizing was the right word for the pain he felt in his hands, feet, and tail. He didn't really have the power to climb onto the sofa, so he rested his back against it, hugging his knees. It was pretty pathetic, but that was all he could do at the moment. His head was spinning and it took all his power to form coherent replies, talking to Kagami.

He must've dozed off; the next thing he understood was that Kagami was trying to get a response out of him by tugging his hair.  
"Come on, you need to eat", the redhead said. "You're going to feel worse if you don't."  
"Ah. Yes." Kuroko tried to push himself up, using the couch as support, but his elbow slipped and he hit the back of his head on the cushion, almost falling to the floor. Disoriented, he felt Kagami pull him up by his upper arms.  
"Can you walk?" he was asked.  
"To be honest, no." It was shameful and uncomfortable, but Kagami helped him to a chair by the kitchen table.  
"You can manage toast, right?" his light asked, patting his paws with his hand.  
"I think so", Kuroko said and picked up a piece, using both hands. Yes, it was possible, though he felt horribly clumsy.  
"Good. I'm going to get some clothes from your apartment, if that's okay."  
"Ah. Please, do."  
Kuroko suddenly remembered he was naked. It was a sort of awkward moment.  
"Well, I'm going. Won't be long. Bye."  
"Yes. See you."

And he was out of the door. Kuroko nibbled on his bread, finding it hard to make the stuff go down. It was plain toast, without even butter, but that was one of the best things to eat when you felt like throwing up. It was unexpectedly thoughtful of Kagami, anyway. He'd expected something more like bacon and fried eggs.

There was no way Kuroko could've eaten all of the toast. It wasn't bacon, but there was a whole plateful of it. He managed to force two pieces down his throat, but had to stop in fear of it coming right back up. A chilly sweat formed on his back due to the pain, still rising, with irregular intervals, to fill his whole body, and he was cold. It felt like there wasn't enough warmth in his blood to cover the whole body, so it neglected the places that weren't in the middle of transforming. It was such a weird feeling; the places that usually were kept warm when it was cold were now the ones losing heat.

* * *

  
    Kagami came back home to find Kuroko resting his head on the kitchen table, arms stretched out above it.  
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked, taking off his shoes.  
"Worse", was the pained reply, and it freaked him out more than he'd've liked to admit. For Kuroko to not bother with creating a complete sentence, he must've felt pretty damn horrible. The redhead rushed to the table and saw not much of the food had disappeared, and the glass of water he'd left next to the plate was still full.  
"The label of the drug said to drink a lot of water during the transformation, you know. You haven't drunk anything since last evening, right?"  
"Yes."  
"Come on!" Kagami barked snappily and pulled his blue friend upright. Kuroko sighed and shook his head in annoyance, trying to shake off his grogginess.  
"It's not that I don't want to drink. I can't hold the glass with these paws", he said, holding them up in demonstration. It looked to Kagami like they'd gotten a bit bigger since he'd left, which was a relief, but he understood the problem.  
"Fine. I'll help you, but first, please put some clothes on."  
"With pleasure."

  
Kuroko needed help with that, too, of course. It wasn't like he could grip anything with his hands, the state they were in. A few embarrassing minutes later, he was finally dressed like a proper human being, and Kagami found a packet of straws in his drawer, so they both could let out a sigh of relief. The most mortifying activities seemed to be over with.  
"I think the water's actually helping", Kuroko, on his third glass, stated. "…Buh"  
"Please don't tell me you're going to throw up", his friend cried, devastated. He didn't answer, but thankfully found his legs could carry him far enough for him to vomit in the sink instead of the floor.

    The phone rang. Kuroko's phone, to be more precise, and Kagami picked it up like it was the most natural thing in the world.  
"So?" he said, without bothering with greetings and such. So, it was Kise. "My apartment? It's, wait, coming from the station…" Kuroko wiped his mouth and let the tap run for some time. Had the airhead actually found the stabilizer, or was he messing around?

Ah. Another wave of pain. He knelt down and hugged his knees, swallowing the stuff that was trying to climb up his throat. The feeling was turning for the worse again; the surge went back and forth in his insides, unwilling to let go. He gasped for breath.  
"Oi! Kuroko!" Kagami had finished his call and was crouched next to him, but he couldn't reply. The redhead looked in horror as his friend, his expression mild as always except for a sort of _strain_ on all his features, clutched the neckline of his shirt, breathing uneven, in a tense hunch. He could only wait for his tension to loosen, for him to take a deep breath and swallow in relief.

"I…'m alright now", he declared, sweeping a paw over his eyes. "That hurt. What did Kise-kun say?"  
"Oh… He's coming here. He found the stabilizer." Kagami blinked at the bent-over shape in front of him. "Never mind that. What happened, just now?"  
"There's no need to worry. The pain just got very intense for a moment. It's happened a few times."  
"How's there no need to worry if you're in _intense pain?_ Come on!" He lifted the blue-head up by his armpits, maybe a bit more aggressively than necessary.  
"What I meant is, it's nothing new. And if Kise-kun has the stabilizer, things will get better, right?"  
"Well, yeah." It wasn't that Kagami didn't understand, but being unable to do anything was frustrating, and he'd been frustrated for about two days straight, at this point.  
"I'm going to lay down, if you don't mind." Kuroko leaned on the kitchen counter and started hobbling toward the sofa.  
"Give me a break!" the redhead grunted. "You'll fall on your face." And he picked his friend up, like you carry a sick child, with his shoulders leaning on his left hand and the crook of his legs on the other.  
"I would not have fallen. Please don't treat me like a child", Kuroko said while Kagami carried him to the couch. "My pride is wounded." But it was a relief to be able to lay down again.  
The doorbell rang, and Kagami had to go press the unlock button, uttering a half-assed "sorry" as he went. To hell with all of them. No one seemed to ever be genuinely sorry when they said that.

  
"Kurokocchi!" came a shout from the hallway, the very moment Kagami opened the door, but it seemed that the householder was keeping his ground; Kise didn't rush to look at Kuroko like he would have, had he gotten the slightest chance.  
"That's as far as you're going!", Kagami scowled at the airhead.  
"What do you mean? I even found the stabilizer for you, you know", was the whining reply.  
"You've done nothing but made things worse and worse ever since this prank started! Should I give you a medal for doing only a bit less than what's expected of any human being?"  
That did actually shut him up, and after a short, quiet conversation, the door clicked close and Kagami came back with a packet of pills.

"I didn't expect Kise-kun to hand that over so easily", Kuroko remarked as Kagami sat down by the table to read the instructions on the stabilizer.  
"Didn't his conscience just catch up?" the redhead suggested. "He doesn't look thoroughly rotten to me."  
"You may be right", he replied, and was shut up by another wave of pain. It was of the worse kind, again, and he was sure his friend noticed it too, though there was no comment this time. Looking over, he saw Kagami was grimacing, his eyes moving with forced steadiness over the text that kept him from getting things done with, already.

"Alright! You can just take this, with a bit of water, and it should help your stomach handle food, too", he said after a while. "Though the painkiller part of it causes sleepiness, apparently."  
"That's to be expected", Kuroko said and got up from the sofa, again, and managed to walk over to the kitchen table. Just like he'd said he could. His paws had grown enough for him to find balance on them, even if his walking was a bit unstable.  
Kagami took a pill out of its slot, since Kuroko couldn't do that with his paws, and watched him swallow the medicine. He still looked pained, but of course, nothing could work that fast.  
"I'm going to boil you some rice", the redhead said and got up, taking a few pieces of toast with him. "Ah! I haven't eaten anything today!"  
Kuroko smiled lightly and looked at the clock. It was 12.00. It was pretty amazing for Kagami to forget to eat for such a long time.  
"Ah. Kagami-kun, sorry. I made you miss school." Well. Maybe he wasn't one to judge people for not being honest with their apologies.

* * *

  
He'd dozed off again, and yes, it was probably because of the stabilizer, because when Kagami shook him awake, he found it really hard to concentrate on his words, or keep his eyes open, for that matter.  
"I've let you sleep for an hour, OK? You have to eat something", his light said, seeming to continue a longer rant. Ah. Kuroko must've mumbled something in response to earlier attempts.  
"I know", he said, hoping the redhead could understand his mumbling. He couldn't really do any better at the moment. "Please, do something. I cah't stay awake."  
"Even if you say that", Kagami started, helpless. He tried pulling his friend's hair, but only earned an angry swing of arm in his general direction. "Argh." He got up and Kuroko felt himself falling into sleep, again.

Something cold slid down his back.  
He sat up, finding he'd been lying against the table, and Kagami had put an ice cube down his neckline. He almost snapped at him, but, after a bit of considering, took a deep breath and ruled against it. He was properly awake now, at least for the moment.  
"Thank you, Kagami-kun."  
"You're welcome. Do you think you can hold a spoon?"  
Kuroko looked down at his hands and saw he'd started developing a thumb. His fingers had grown a bit and he could bend them, but there was a numb sensation when he did, like when you try to take a hard grip of something just after waking up or have sat on top of your leg for too long.  
"I'll try", he said, and Kagami handed him a bowl of rice gruel. The sleepiness was coming back, but for now, he could hold it off with willpower.

No power of mind helped him keep the spoon in his hand, though. It was probably the painkiller's fault, since his hands and feet only hurt very little, but it made it impossible to use them in any way. He managed to get a bit of rice into the spoon before he dropped it, splashing broth all over his face.  
"I suppose I'm not going to eat. Sorry for your trouble", he said. It'd be okay. He wanted to go back to sleep, anyway, so it wasn't much of a problem to wait a bit more till his hands were back to normal.  
    "No, idiot. You have to eat during the transformation, or you risk your body forming too weak. The instructions of the stabilizer said so", Kagami said, scratching the back of his head, picked up the spoon and shoved it, rather violently, into his friend's mouth. "I'm gonna feed you, so come on."  
Kuroko swallowed the little rice that had made it into his mouth and coughed. "My manliness has constantly been threatened since monday, but this is a completely new level", he remarked.  
"Shut up. I feel stupid, so let's just do this and never talk about it again."

It felt like a whole "ever" in itself until they could get to the "never talking about it" part. Kuroko was getting groggy again, though it was only evident in his actions slowing down. Kagami didn't even realize he was about to fall asleep until his head suddenly dropped and he snapped back upright, taking a sudden breath and coughing up rice.  
The redhead said something, but Kuroko's brain couldn't register what it was. After a while, he felt ice sliding down his back again, rising his alertness level very nicely.  
"I'm sorry for making things difficult", he said, a bit more sincere this time.  
"Ah, seriously, shut up", Kagami grunted, stuffing more food into his blue friend's mouth. "It's no use apologizing for things you can't help."  
"Though you've complained to me about it, _you're_ the one who says embarrassingly cool things with no shame, Kagami-kun", Kuroko said, but it came out muffled, and he refused to repeat.

* * *

  
It took until the evening for Kuroko to completely return to normal, and he slept most of the time. Kagami visited the school for basketball practice and explained the situation to a pissed-off coach. She told him they'd both better be at school the next day, _or else_ , and grudgingly let him go back after he'd told everything, since it'd've been bad to be caught by a teacher.

To make sure everything was alright, Kagami walked Kuroko home. Everything _was_ alright. Kuroko felt only a bit tired, like you feel after after being sick, and very relieved to be able to walk on his own legs, and, more importantly, open doors and make calls with his own hands.  
"I wish I had a basketball", he said. "I miss the feeling of dribbling already."  
"You'll probably be sick of it by tomorrow evening, if the coach's face was anything to go by."  
"Ahh." His expression darkened slightly, and then went back to normal as he came to think of something "Oh. I'd forgotten. I was meaning to say that you're the one who'd like a dog, Kagami-kun."  
"Why're you insulting me all of a sudden?" the redhead growled.  
"Eh? I'm just stating a neutral fact. At first, you seem like you'd bite anyone who comes near you, but then one finds out you're just a gentle idiot. And you never run out of energy. You're just like one." Kagami didn't feel neutral, he felt like he was being simultaneously complimented and badmouthed.  For a while, they walked in silence.

"So, what're you gonna do with Kise?"  
"Well. He still has #2, so I need to meet him. I'm thinking of inviting him to a cafe tomorrow evening."  
"You're going to make up with him?"  
"Maybe." Kuroko turned to look at the shop window next to him. "I have to return the drug to him and he has to return my pet."  
"Aren't you afraid he's going to use it again?" Kagami looked puzzled.  
"No", Kuroko said, looking unsettlingly happy for himself. "I'll make sure he doesn't.  
It must be because he was happy to be himself again, Kagami decided. He didn't want any part in whatever revenge Kuroko was possibly plotting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the apple of my eye. I simultaneously feel like I won't ever need to write anything again, and like I want to write a thousand more like this. I guess all the pain descriptions I wrote for kicks when I was like twelve paid off.


	6. Comfortingly habitual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short epilogue that I wrote as a bonus to the actual fic. I hope you enjoyed the ride!

The cafe was bustling with people, bright colors and sounds molded together like play-dough after an enthusiastic kid's use. Kise had chosen a small corner table in hopes of getting some peace and privacy, but the table right next to him had quickly filled up with noisy junior high students with their semi-fashionable clothes and light-hearted discussions.

Gah. He could totally sympathize with people like that, in a way, but there was the potential danger of them recognizing him. Though, of course, he'd done his best with his disguise. He was wearing a horribly tacky blue hoodie and gray sweatpants. Which would only make the situation worse if he was nevertheless recognized.

    He raised his eyes and let out a startled "Ah!". Kuroko was there, loyal to his habit of appearing out of thin air, sitting in the other chair with a comfortingly habitual vanilla latte in his hands, and Kise hadn't noticed him at all, even though he'd been waiting.  
"Kurokocchi! Since when have you been here?"  
"Since four minutes ago. I kept count. It took you exceptionally long to notice, today."  
"Sorry! I must've been so lost in thought."  
Kuroko frowned at him lightly. "I hope you were regretting your bad deeds."  
"I am, really!" Kise stated, letting his smile gain a shade of regret. "I didn't realize the pills mattered so much, so I was too careless with them."   
"Who drugs their friend without even making sure they understand the instructions?"  
"I'm sorry." He wished he didn't have to think about how ill Kuroko might've been because of the transformation. It made _him_ feel kind of sick. The coffee he had ordered was cold already.

"Well, there's nothing to do about it now." The shadow gulped down the rest of his latte and fumbled for something in his bag. "Here's the drug, I don't want to keep it."  
"Oh, thanks."  
"Did you leave #2 outside?"  
"Yeah."  
"Thank you for taking care of it until now." He heaved the shoulder strap of his bag over his head and got up to leave. "See you later."

Well, that was one brief exchange.

"Kurokocchi!" the blue-head stopped halfway across the cafe's floor.  
"I'm really sorry!"  
"It's alright. I'm not going to hate you forever, Kise-kun."  
"Does that mean you hate me now?" Kise shrieked after him, but was coldly ignored.  
Ahh, geez. Kuroko had gone so easy on him, how was he supposed to feel redeemed now? He gulped down the cold coffee and grimaced. It tasted unusually horrible.

* * *

  
It hit him when he was putting the drug in his medicine cabinet at home. There were _two_ doses of it missing.  
Of course. Kuroko wouldn't have forgiven him that easily.

Kise wondered if his teammates would treat him as nicely as the Seirin team had treated Kuroko.  
    Oh, there was no way they would.


End file.
